The value of the Golden State Warriors franchise is skyrocketing

The New York Knicks ($3.0 billion) and the Los Angeles Lakers ($2.7 billion) are the most valuable teams in the NBA, according to the most recent valuations by Forbes. But the team that has surged the most in recent years is the Golden State Warriors.

As recently as 2011, the Warriors were valued below the NBA average, and as recently as 2006, the Warriors were listed at 25% below average. Eleven years later, with the help of some of the best players in the NBA, an NBA championship, and a new privately funded arena on the horizon, the Warriors are now the third-most-valuable team in the NBA, at $2.6 billion.

The value of NBA franchises in general surged from 2013 to 2015, thanks to skyrocketing television revenue as well as the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers for a record $2.0 billion. But as the growth in value of the average NBA team slowed a bit the last two years, the Warriors kept going, and now they are worth nearly twice as much as the average team.